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As the year comes to an end, it’s easy for small business owners to get laser-focused on tying up loose ends. From finalizing financials to ensuring compliance, the checklist can feel endless. While year-end checklists are essential, it’s just as important to take a moment to pause, reflect, recharge, and set your business up for an even brighter year ahead.
That’s where Wagefest comes in. Last month, we hosted our annual small business festival, bringing together entrepreneurs, accountants, bookkeepers, and industry leaders for an unforgettable day of learning, inspiration, and community. From insightful workshops to empowering keynotes, Wagefest 2024: Lift Up + Level Up delivered actionable lessons to help small businesses thrive.
This year, we featured the likes of Doug Neill, Jenn Walker, Kevin Rempel, Dustin Revere, and many other unforgettable contributors.
We’ve distilled the top six takeaways from this year’s event to guide you as you close out the year and look ahead to new opportunities. Ready to level up? Let’s dive in.
Get motivated to follow your small business dream
There are times when getting motivated calls for the Rocky theme song—it makes those last remaining pushups and mile runs a whole lot easier. But running a successful business is a marathon, not a sprint. These quick hits of adrenaline, while often powerful, tend to fizzle out quickly.
So, where can you find long lasting motivation to fuel your business journey?
A great place to start is by reconnecting with your “why.” This is how you create a deep well of motivation to draw from day after day. Behind every successful business is a strong why.
Your purpose will be unique to your story. After struggling with her own mental health and finding it difficult to maintain traditional employment, Laurinda Lee-Retter founded Kind Karma Company. She shared her journey building an inclusive business model that merges social impact with profitability. Kind Karma Company employs at-risk and homeless youth in Toronto to handcraft quality jewelry—with many of them holding employment for years at a time.
“It wasn’t until I sat down and thought about what matters to me the most that Kind Karma was born.”
-Laurinda Lee-Retter, founder, Kind Karma Company
Laurinda Lee-Retter, founder of Kind Karma Company, shares how to combine purpose with business in a way that benefits both.
Oftentimes, adversity has a way of uncovering our purpose. Taking accountability for our lives, no matter the circumstances, can lead to radical positive change. Kevin Rempel, a 2014 Canadian Paralympic bronze medalist in sledge hockey, showed us what it looks like to take extreme ownership. After being paralyzed in a dirt bike accident in 2006 at the age of 23, Kevin battled through depression, learned to walk again, and rebuilt his physical health, mental resilience, and career. Kevin’s mission is to help others realize they can adopt “The Hero Mindset” to overcome their own challenges and be the architect of their own destiny.
Both Laurinda’s and Kevin’s stories prove that finding your “why” not only drives personal success, but meaningful impact. What will your story look like?
Discover new tools and resources to make the magic happen
Having the right tools for the job isn’t just a convenience, it’s a game changer. Ever tried eating cereal with a fork? For small businesses, the right technology and resources can streamline operations, help generate ground-breaking ideas, and create opportunities you never thought possible. Take automating payroll (ahem, Wagepoint) as an example—it frees up your mental bandwidth so you can go out there and crush it.
As a business owner, you live an unconventional life and with that comes unconventional solutions. Ever considered sketchnoting? This is the art of sketching as a learning, communication, and problem-solving skill. It’s one of those things you don’t know you need to do until you see it in action. Doug Neill, founder of Verbal to Visual, showed how it’s done during his session. Here’s a peek at what he shared with us.
Plus, he drew us this cool example of what Wagefest could look like as a sketchnote.
Sketchnote of Wagefest 2024 done by Doug Neill, founder of Verbal to Visual
And we can’t talk about new tools without mentioning the transformative power of AI. Leveraged correctly, AI will supercharge your productivity and creativity. Emily Baillie’s workshop on ChatGPT walked us through real-world examples of how entrepreneurs are using AI to work smarter and drive results. From content creation to data analytics, AI is reshaping what’s possible for small businesses.
Every Wagefest session offered something unique, but they all shared one common goal: to help small business owners elevate their game and reach their full potential.
Learn from others in the small business space
One of the greatest advantages of being part of the small business community is, well, the community itself. Whether it’s through networking, mentorship, attending events like Wagefest—there are plenty of opportunities to learn from other entrepreneurs who’ve already walked the path you’re on.
With over 22% of Canadians being foreign-born, there’s about a 1 in 4 chance that who you’re interacting with comes from a different cultural background. Embracing those differences not only leads to a more inclusive environment, it drives creativity and fosters stronger workplace integration. How does one exactly navigate and thrive in a dynamic landscape of cultures? Tina Varughese lit the way in her session, 50 Shades of Beige: Communicate with the Cross-Cultural Advantage. From understanding gestures and speaking styles to recognizing the nuances of body language, Tina showed how developing cultural intelligence not only enhances relationships, but ultimately, business success.
Many of our lessons are learned the hard way. Or if you’re lucky, someone will have taken the fall for you, saving you from doing the same.
That someone is Shrad Rao. At Wagepoint, we’re fortunate enough to have a CEO who can’t help but share his growing pains. Shrad’s talk, Top 3 Lessons Learned as CEO of Wagepoint, highlighted universal challenges that all businesses face. Whether it’s finding and hiring strong leadership, creating alignment within your team, or building an organization that can weather any storm—just about all small businesses will come to these crossroads in one form or another.
“The size of the problem changes, [but] the type of problem often doesn’t.”
-Shrad Rao, Wagepoint CEO
By listening to the stories and lessons of those who’ve been through it, business owners can avoid costly mishaps, or at the very least, take comfort in knowing they’re not alone.
Build your community of like-minded people
Networking goes far beyond handing out a business card or sending a LinkedIn connection. Real (and fun) networking is about building meaningful connections with people who inspire you. Think of it like making friends who also happen to have similar goals and interests. Having like-minded allies in your corner can help you navigate challenges, spark fresh ideas, and best of all, you’ll have people to celebrate your wins with!
Wagefest was built with community building at its core. Attendees are encouraged to connect, share stories, and even engage directly with speakers. More than 2,000 conversations took place, sparking meaningful exchanges and lasting connections. While Wagefest is a virtual celebration, the connections are as real and as tangible as ever.
Take time for passions and hobbies
It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activities of running a small business. No matter what, there is always something that can be worked on. Without boundaries the business can become all consuming. Having a hobby outside of work not only helps reduce stress but it can also fuel your personal growth—thereby aiding in your business development.
There’s probably something you’ve been itching to try. Give it a shot. Book that pottery class, sign up for jiu jitsu lessons, or read that book on ice sculpting.
Don’t just take our word for it. Dustin Revere, founder of Revere Glass, knows how even glass blowing can impact business in a positive way. As he crafted a delicate glass candle, he talked about the step-by-step process of achieving flow state—that magical zone where you’re completely absorbed in an activity and time seems to melt away. And that’s the kind of creativity he can bring into every part of his business.
“I was able to use my creativity for marketing, for operations, for strategy,” Dustin explained.
Investing in a passion outside of work can energize both you and your business. And sometimes it’s just helpful to let loose and recharge so you’re ready and in a good headspace to get back to business. Rocking out with DJ9 and dancing with My Nguyen of The Confidance taught us that.
Gather insights from the industry pros
No matter your industry or space, the landscape is constantly evolving. Whether it’s social shifts, technological breakthroughs, new life chapters, or something else we haven’t even dreamed of yet, one thing is for certain: change is constant.
Keeping up with it all gets exhausting. While hard work can carry you through, working smarter is often key for long-term success. One way to work smarter is by tapping into the expertise of others.
And Wagefest? That’s where learning from the pros takes on a whole new look. Every session was jam-packed with information to take you to the next level. This included insights into Wagepoint’s latest updates with CPO Leena Thampan, with features that make payroll even simpler than it was before.
Meanwhile, Steven Van Alstine, PLP, CAE, vice-president of Professional Standards and Education at the National Payroll Institute covered key federal and provincial payroll updates, helping Canadian business owners stay payroll compliant. If you ask us, hearing from someone who gets it and gets us, like Steven does, is much better than reading a government page.
By learning from industry leaders, you can adapt to changes, embrace new tools, and make better decisions for what’s on the horizon.
Final thoughts on our unconventional year-end checklist for small businesses
As a small business owner, you live and breathe an unconventional lifestyle, so why shouldn’t your year-end checklist reflect that?
You’ve got plans to make and dreams to reach. That’s going to take some serious motivation. Fortunately, there are countless resources out there to fuel that drive. The most important resource of all is your fellow humans! Get out there, start networking and make cool friends in the process. These are the people who are going to help carry you through your journey, and hopefully you can do the same for them.
Running a successful and thriving business is like maintaining a healthy mullet. It’s a business in the front and a party (or hobby) in the back. Take the time to cultivate your passions and creative thinking. Also, make sure to celebrate your wins. You’re doing great, stick with it!
Thanks for making it to the end. See you at Wagefest 2025?
You can catch Wagefest on demand until March 31, 2025. Login or register to start watching.
